Nokia, Sprint to offer N800 tablet with Wimax capability

Sprint is apparently preparing Nokia's N800 compact Internet device N800 to be available with support for Wimax next year.

According to a report published by Linux Devices, Nokia will be offering the N800 as Wimax-enabled device with a Linux operating at its core. Initially, the N800 is expected to support Mobile Wimax, with other Wimax variants following later on. According to Sprint, Wimax will be available in 19 U.S. markets by the end of the year, including major metropolitan areas, such as Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Washington D.C.

The N800 comes close to what Intel recently described as "Mobile Internet Devices" – a new class of mobile computers that are much smaller than UMPCs and foremost serve as entertainment and communication devices and allow consumers to stay connected, especially to the Internet and Email. In comparison to Apple's iPhone, which is often cited to be an early member of this class of devices, the N800 does not have phone capability, but it has a larger screen (4.13") and Wimax-support certainly opens the door for VoIP telephony.

Compared the $400 N800 Nokia is offering today, such a device is likely to require much more memory to store information. The device currently has 256 MG of built-in flash memory, with a possibility to extend storage space via SD, MMC or micro SD cards with up to 2 GB capacity.

Virgin America kicks off with first US flight, under lousy conditions

North Amercia's newest airline, Virgin America, is now officially in the air as its first cross country flight took off this morning, although weather problems made for a bumpy debut.

The ceremony began this morning at JFK where Virgin CEO Richard Branson held a press conference. Area thunderstorms led to a slight delay in the flight's departure, and caused several passengers, including Virgin America CEO Fred Reid and Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, who was scheduled to christen the plane before it took off, to miss the event.

The inaugural flight, JFK to San Francisco, was timed to arrive at the same moment as Virgin's first flight from LAX. San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom will greet the first passengers before they're escorted to a launch party in a local club.

The hoopla surrounding the airline's first day underlines what it plans to bring to the travel market. Virgin America brings several new features to the domestic travel market. Each passenger has an individual touch-screen video monitor to access live TV, on-demand programming, pay-per-view movies, e-books, video games, and over 3000 songs.

Passengers can also interact with each other through chat rooms and multiplayer games open to everyone on the flight. Additionally, they can communicate with people on the ground with the country's first approved in-flight e-mail and text messaging service, also done via the seat-back TV monitors.

The first flights are exclusive, invitation-only affairs. Virgin put up an auction for two tickets on eBay, along with tickets to the after party, which went for $5,400. Another auction for the LAX to SFO flight sold for around $2,100. All proceeds went to the KIPP Foundation.

However, on a normal day Virgin America prices should appeal to all travelers. Flights from LAX to SFO begin at around $44 each way, and round-trip jaunts between JFK and SFO are available for under $300, making the price competitive with the cheapest airlines and making it cheaper than its closest rival in terms of amenities, JetBlue.

The initial routes available for Virgin America include flights to and from New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

UK bans PS3 ad, warns Sony

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has issued a warning for Sony, forcing it to remove a controversial Internet ad.

The advert, which reportedly appeared on Yahoo's UK site, featured a bald man holding a knife and gun with on-screen text reading "You on my side? Listen up I've killed for less. The music plays Puccini in my head." It fits the cryptic style of other PS3 commercials that had customers scratching their heads in confusion.

Though the message was unclear, the ASA said the controversial overtones were unmistakable. It issued a statement saying the ad "could be seen to glamorise violence or anti-social behaviour. We asked Sony to amend future internet ads where the content could be seen to condone or glamorise violence or anti-social behaviour."